Watercooler Stories

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Dec. 12 (UPI) -- An Alabama boy whose birthday is Wednesday said he turned exactly 12 years old at 12:12 p.m. on 12/12/12.

Kiam Moriya of Birmingham has a birth certificate confirming the date and time of his birth in 2000 and his parents said they did not notice the pattern until a couple weeks after his birth, Today.com reported Wednesday.

"The lady who was helping us fill out the forms said, 'Do you realize your son was born December 12 at 12:12 p.m.?''' said the boy's father, Kazuo Moriya. "That's when it really hit us with all those twelves. I do have to admit that it might mean something, but I have no idea what. It's definitely a little crazy.''

The family said Kiam has found local and online fame from news of his birthday.

"I think a lot of his classmates and his friends think that it is a cool thing,'' Moriya said. "It has gone a little crazy in my opinion.''

Moriya, who moved to the United States from Tokyo when his was 15, said the year of his son's birth, 2000, is also considered by the Japanese to be the 12th year of the reign of the current emperor.

Iced-over train toilet picture goes viral

WARSAW, Poland, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- A Polish railway operator said an iced-over toilet photographed by a train rider was the result of an unsealed window.

The photographer, identified only as Agnieszka, said she was aboard a train from Warsaw to Szczecin when she walked into the lavatory and saw the toilet was covered in ice and snow, The Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday.

"I took the picture this to show the conditions of toilet trains in winter," the photographer said. "Thankfully the others were in a working condition."

The photo made the rounds on the Internet and became internationally viral.

Michal Stilger, spokesman for railway company Przewozy Regionalne, blamed a faulty window for the iced-over commode.

"The condition was caused by an unsealed window," he said. "An unsealed window or door in winter conditions at high speed can suck the snow in."

Salvation Army Maj. J. Craig Haggerty said the donation will help a campaign that lags about $8,000 behind where it was last year, the Elmira Star Gazette said Tuesday. The coin was donated Friday but not discovered until Monday when volunteers were counting up donations.

"I've never had a gold coin before. I've heard about them. When it happened someplace else, I always wondered, 'Why not here?'" said Haggerty, who has been manning kettles for 35 years and is in his 26th Christmas as a Salvation Army officer.

A Salvation Army spokeswoman said such donations happen a few times every year during the order's ubiquitous Christmas donation drive. About 400 such coins have been found in all since 1982 when the first one was donated in Chicago.

Neighbor's response to Xmas lights: Ditto

MARCOPIA, Ariz., Dec. 12 (UPI) -- An Arizona woman who decided not to compete with her neighbor's holiday lights display is gaining attention for her own lights arranged to read "Ditto."

Kristina Green of Marcopia, who is spending her first holiday season in the area, said she knew she could not compete with the 20,000-light display her neighbor created for the Christmas season so the lights decorating her house merely spell out "Ditto" with an arrow pointing toward the elaborate display, KTVK-TV, Phoenix, reported Wednesday.

The "Ditto" sign was actually created by Eric Cyr, the same neighbor whose house is indicated by the arrow, KNXV-TV, Phoenix, reported. He said he only had a few lights on his house in 2010, but the display has grown by several thousand lights during the past two years.

"As a kid I loved watching Christmas lights and going to see them and that's just inspired me," Cyr said.

United Press International is a leading provider of news, photos and information to millions of readers around the globe via UPI.com and its licensing services.

With a history of reliable reporting dating back to 1907, today's UPI is a credible source for the most important stories of the day, continually updated - a one-stop site for U.S. and world news, as well as entertainment, trends, science, health and stunning photography. UPI also provides insightful reports on key topics of geopolitical importance, including energy and security.

A Spanish version of the site reaches millions of readers in Latin America and beyond.

UPI was founded in 1907 by E.W. Scripps as the United Press (UP). It became known as UPI after a merger with the International News Service in 1958, which was founded in 1909 by William Randolph Hearst. Today, UPI is owned by News World Communications.